Sanity check first rifle config (elk, lightweight)

[sdirks3]

Hmmm, very interesting options here. And of course I go from narrowed down "almost ready to buy" back to analysis paralysis! hahaha, you guys are the worst in the best of ways

 

[Samson7x]

That's unfortunate, curious what model and barrel? My 110 axis in 7-08 with Barnes 120 ttsx is by far the most accurate rifle I own. I bought it when I was dead broke for like $400. The action on that gun is sloppy and I put in a new trigger, but I love that cheap little gun. Very ammo picky and I almost gave up on it early. I wouldn't recommend buying one over other options, but it is a shooter. I either pack that or my 110 bear hunter in 375 Ruger. That gun has a very smooth action and I personally like the accutrigger. They have both been fantastic on a budget and have killed a zoo worth of animals. I'm currently waiting somewhat impatiently to pick up a 110UL with the proof barrel in 7 PRC for my wife's moose gun.

It was a 110 long range hunter with 10 twist barrel.

 

[breaks_mud_man]

6.5 prc is fine, just dont shoot the eldx bullets out of it. I have shot 3 elk with those bullets now and all left zero blood trail and even with double lung shots the elk didnt go down for 100 +/- yards.

 

[MHWASH]

Good ideas here. One I considered is opening the bolt face and rechambering to PRC. Very doable. In fact I still have the dies and had a couple hundred 6.5 PRC brass that I’ve since traded for 7 saum.

 

[Taudisio]

6.5 prc is fine, just dont shoot the eldx bullets out of it. I have shot 3 elk with those bullets now and all left zero blood trail and even with double lung shots the elk didnt go down for 100 +/- yards.

Just out of curiosity, did you find all 3?

 

[kickemall]

"Hmmm, very interesting options here. And of course I go from narrowed down "almost ready to buy" back to analysis paralysis! hahaha, you guys are the worst in the best of ways "

Then keep it simple and get a Tikka T3x in 6.5 Creedmoor then put an SWFA 3-9 on it and go shoot. Probably one of the better combos you can get and if you don't like FFP SWFA holds it value as will the Tikka if you don't like it either.

 

[SouthPaw]

Or, hows this for an idea.. Buy left handed tikka 6.5 creed. Shoot it, if you decide you think 200 more FPS is gonna make you happy, you have options.

If you're happy with that barrel, you could just ream it out to 6.5x284 which is the same damn thing performance wise as a PRC just has less factory ammo support and doesn't play well with a short action (which is easily mitigated in a tikka).

Or pick up a takeoff 6.5 PRC barrel and trade or source a magnum bolt (might be tougher for lefties) but I bet you could call tikka and say you lost your bolt and buy one if you cant find a trade.

Or just pay someone to spin up a barrel that's exactly what you want. a PBB pre-fit plus tikka purchase would still be cheaper than the two guns OP is looking at.

If tikka makes 6.5x55 in leftys, there's another option that splits creedmoor/prc difference.

Lots of flexibility. All i like better than a CA or Savage, but either of them would probably work as well.

This is precisely what I was alluding to. Easy button with multiple options for down the road.

 

[MTMeatHunter]

For a first time rifle owner, I think your making a mistake going real light weight. Light weight rigs are hard to shoot accurately without lots of practice, which may be limiting with the availability of 6.5 Prc ammo. A light weight gun can promote flinching. For what your describing especially with say a 400 yard limit, I'd grab a Tikka T3 lite in 7mm-08, 270 or 6.5 CM. Then when your ready have the barrel cut down and threaded.

For a scope, there is no real advantage to go any higher than 15x, especially at the ranges you are talking about. I consistantly make hits on a 10x10 plate at 500 yards with my 10x scope. The SWFA 3-9, NF NXS 2.5-10, or the NF SVH 3-10 would all be perfect for said rifle.

I was also going to mention the SHV 3-10. I have multiple and I have zero issues with MOA sized targets waaay further than I’d ever hunt. 800 yards on 10x is no issue for MY eyes. I have the MOAR reticle FWIW. 10x has not been a handicap.

 

[sdirks3]

Aside from taming recoil, is there a general stability advantage to having a heavier gun? Or are we saying creedmore to tame the recoil and then go as light as I want?

 

[thedutchtouch]

I'm in a similar position, however have been leaning .270 I decided to pick up a 22lr first and shoot the heck out of that for a few months to get rifle basics down, and then move up to a .270 in a bit. I found a 350 legend(I'm in a mostly straight wall state) so that'll be next as well. Whatever elk caliber you land on i still vote grab a 22 lr, or something like a 223 if you must have centerfire to learn on first, and then you'll know what you want for your elk gun a bit later, after having some lower recoil practice to learn shooting basics

 

[Deywalker]

I'd have to agree with those saying to just grab a Rokslide special to start out with. Creedmoor is plenty out to 500. I had a Savage model 10 purchased around 2012 and it was nothing but problem after problem. Noodle for a stock, if I looked at it wrong it would jam when I tried to feed it, it often had very heavy bolt lift/extraction issues, and felt recoil was way higher than I believe it should have been. So far I've been very happy and headache free with the 4 tikkas I've purchased.

 

[woods89]

Couple things.

My buddy has a Christenson 300 WM. It's probably 4 or 5 years old. It's been a problem child, and after handling it I would spend my money elsewhere. That's the only one I have personal experience with, but it seems like quality control issues come up pretty often on here.

The subject of 6.5 Creedmoors and elk has been thrashed to death. All hard evidence at this point leads to them being fine as long as the shooter is, which isn't any different than any other cartridge. It's just a bullet of a certain weight at a certain velocity. Mine keeps a 156 Berger above 1800 fps to 700ish yds, which is quite a bit further than my abilities are good for.

The best thing I've done for killing animals is buying a 223 bolt gun. I shoot it 3-1 to my 6.5 Creed. I have a couple animals from the last couple years that I believe can be attributed to positional practice with it, and, to a lesser extent, with my Creedmoor. Animals die from holes in the lungs, and learning to put that bullet there quickly is way more important than endless energy debates.

Good luck.

 

[sdirks3]

Alrighty, some interesting numbers for you. Assuming no suppression (since the ATF will have that in jail for who knows how long), here are some recoil numbers for my front running options (all run using nosler load data for consistency):

6.5 CM, 8 lb rifle, 120 grain: 11 ft lbs
6.5 CM, 8 lb rifle, 150 grain: 13.7 ft lbs
280 AI, 10.5 lb rifle, 120 grain: 14.8 ft lbs
280 AI, 10.5 lb rifle, 150 grain: 15.9 ft lbs
280 AI, 10.5 lb rifle, 185 grain: 17.6 ft lbs
6.5 PRC, 8 lb rifle, 120 grain: 20 ft lbs
6.5 PRC, 8 lb rifle, 150 grain: 21.8 ft lbs

Unsurprisingly the CM comes out ahead even in the featherweight rifle. What did surprise me is that the 280 AI is dang close in terms of recoil if I up the rifle weight (using the same attachments on the savage timberline available used for cheap). I've been reading up on rifle weight and recoil and it seems that even leaving recoil aside some folks advocate a ~10 lb rifle just for added stability (good ol' inertia), but what are all of your thoughts seeing the numbers laid out there? Light rifle in a light cartridge? Cool cartridge in a heavier rifle? Or the rokslide classic tikka and have a gunsmith thread it when the silencer comes through?

 

[PredatorSlayer]

That is a great rifle/scope combo. I have a christensen 6.5 prc and absolutely love it. Its the BA tactical. I also have a ridgeline FFT in 280AI with the exact same scope you want to use. Last year it went to alaska on a moose hunt and idaho elk hunt. Scope was awesome.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

And for every horror story on CA there's people saying this too! Not making the decision easy on me guys haha

Yeah, I've been listening to tons of podcasts on the subject. Really good episodes in "Backcountry Hunting" breaking down bullet selection. That's actually another motivator for getting into hand loading - giving me better odds on being able to tune up a load with the bullets I want to use.

Most of the CA horror stories are hearsay or they had a “buddy”…lol. We own over a dozen of them and they all shoot. If their are any problems CAs customer service was awesome the 1 time I had to use it and they have an accuracy guarantee, so super low risk.

 

[Taudisio]

Alrighty, some interesting numbers for you. Assuming no suppression (since the ATF will have that in jail for who knows how long), here are some recoil numbers for my front running options (all run using nosler load data for consistency):

6.5 CM, 8 lb rifle, 120 grain: 11 ft lbs
6.5 CM, 8 lb rifle, 150 grain: 13.7 ft lbs
280 AI, 10.5 lb rifle, 120 grain: 14.8 ft lbs
280 AI, 10.5 lb rifle, 150 grain: 15.9 ft lbs
280 AI, 10.5 lb rifle, 185 grain: 17.6 ft lbs
6.5 PRC, 8 lb rifle, 120 grain: 20 ft lbs
6.5 PRC, 8 lb rifle, 150 grain: 21.8 ft lbs

Unsurprisingly the CM comes out ahead even in the featherweight rifle. What did surprise me is that the 280 AI is dang close in terms of recoil if I up the rifle weight (using the same attachments on the savage timberline available used for cheap). I've been reading up on rifle weight and recoil and it seems that even leaving recoil aside some folks advocate a ~10 lb rifle just for added stability (good ol' inertia), but what are all of your thoughts seeing the numbers laid out there? Light rifle in a light cartridge? Cool cartridge in a heavier rifle? Or the rokslide classic tikka and have a gunsmith thread it when the silencer comes through?

I hate heavy rifles. Only you can determine what “heavy” is. A muzzle brake or a suppressor will knock down the recoil numbers. 8 pounds is a good, balanced hunting weight (not featherweight) to me. You could get a million different combinations which is a fun thing. Some guys are going to give you a very sensible suggestion from their experience of being burned in the past. Some will suggest you to get something that you may love or absolutely hate and change after the first day on the range. Get your hands on rifles, keep crunching numbers for you and your confidence alone. Talk to friends who shoot and see if you can go to range day (offer money for ammo you shoot!) and see if you find something you like. Everyone here can only suggest what they have used and liked vs not liked. Your perfect rifle could be something off the wall different that few have tried.

 

[4ester]

Most of the CA horror stories are hearsay or they had a “buddy”…lol. We own over a dozen of them and they all shoot. If their are any problems CAs customer service was awesome the 1 time I had to use it and they have an accuracy guarantee, so super low risk.

What do you want it to be? Family only?

I’ve seen 3 of these rifles have problems which honestly is better then 50% of the guns I’ve been around.

1) 6.5 PRC with chamber and pressure problems. They made it right.

2) 26 Nosler that would not shoot. CA wouldn’t cover, said because they used reloaded ammo (early in CA production) they rebarreled on their own.

3) 6.5 Creedmoor with some serious stress, walked right off the paper with increased charge weight. They made it right.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Deywalker]

what are all of your thoughts seeing the numbers laid out there? Light rifle in a light cartridge? Cool cartridge in a heavier rifle? Or the rokslide classic tikka and have a gunsmith thread it when the silencer comes through?

I would rather the lighter weight rifle, with more readily available ammunition, that recoils less. a rifle that is both more pleasant to shoot, and more pleasant to carry will lead to more practice with it.

 

[sdirks3]

I would rather the lighter weight rifle, with more readily available ammunition, that recoils less. a rifle that is both more pleasant to shoot, and more pleasant to carry will lead to more practice with it.

That's where my gut is leaning, but then again my gut almost walked me into a sub 8 lb 7 PRC early on so I figured I'd get some other opinions lol

 

[Taudisio]

That's where my gut is leaning, but then again my gut almost walked me into a sub 8 lb 7 PRC early on so I figured I'd get some other opinions lol

If that’s what YOU want then get it. Muzzle brake it until your suppressor shows up. Absolutely nothing wrong with the weight/caliber. I have an 8 pound 30 nosler being put together.